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Stephen Rhodes (1951 20 February 2017) was a voice-over artist and weekday daytime presenter on
BBC Three Counties Radio BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Grove Park in Dunstable. According ...
and
BBC Radio Northampton BBC Radio Northampton is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Northamptonshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Abington Street in Northampton. According to RAJAR, the station has a we ...
. He originally hosted the Consumer Programme from 10am until 1:30pm, but moved to the breakfast show broadcast from 6am to 9am. However, after his breakfast show on Tuesday 16 March 2010, he handed his resignation in to the radio station and left with immediate effect, as he prepared to stand as an independent candidate at the 2010 general election. Rhodes was born in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
as Thomas "Tommy" Keenan, the son of a dentist, but later moved to
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He changed his name to Stephen Rhodes when he started working on Dublin pirate radio stations. He died of
motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...
on 20 February 2017, aged 66, at home in
Eaton Bray Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about three miles south-west of the town of Dunstable and is part of a semi-rural area which extends into the parish of Edlesborough. In the 2021 United Kingdom ...
. He was survived by his wife and four children.


Broadcasting career


Radio

Rhodes started his broadcasting career on Dublin pirate radio stations “ARD Radio" (Alternative Radio Dublin) and “Big D Radio” at the end of the 1970s, moving over to the UK and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
radio station
BRMB BRMB is a British radio station based in Aston, Birmingham, which is owned and operated by Murfin Music International. It broadcasts on 89.1FM in Aston and surrounding areas, on DAB throughout Birmingham, and online via the station's website a ...
in 1980, before moving to
Beacon Radio Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire, formerly Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshir ...
in
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
and then WABC (later called Classic Gold WABC) in the early 1990s. Rhodes then joined
BBC Radio Shropshire BBC Radio Shropshire is the BBC's local radio station serving Shropshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Boscobel Drive in Shrewsbury. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 77,000 ...
as Breakfast Show host where he won the first of many Sony Radio Academy Awards. In early 1994, Rhodes took over the weekday mid-morning show on the station. He remained on the slot until mid 1995, when Rhodes turned up at BBC Three Counties Radio, presenting a consumer programme five days a week. In the course of his time on the consumer programme he became well known for his undercover work which won him a number of National Radio Academy Awards.


Television

Rhodes' television credits include presenting ''Central Weekend'' live on a number of occasions as well as presenting ''
This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * ''CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succes ...
'' for
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
as relief presenter for
Richard Madeley Richard Holt Madeley ( born 13 May 1956) is an English television presenter and writer. Alongside his wife Judy Finnigan, he presented ITV's '' This Morning'' (1988–2001) and the Channel 4 chat show ''Richard & Judy'' (2001–2008). Madeley ...
from 1994 to 1997. He was a presenter of the Politics Programme for the Eastern Region, BBC for four years. He has also presented occasional documentaries/reports for both BBC East and
BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...
Television. He was the voice of ''
Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002. A celebrity version, '' All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to ...
'' from 1987 to 1999.


Sony Awards

* 1993 Speech based Breakfast Show – Bronze * 1998 The Stephen Rhodes Show, Daytime Talk – Silver * 1999 The Stephen Rhodes Consumer programme, Daytime Talk/News – Bronze * 2001 Interactive – Gold * 2001 Short Form Award – Bronze * 2003 Speech Broadcaster of the year – Nominee * 2005 Speech Broadcaster of the Year – Bronze


Political career

Stephen Rhodes announced to the press on the afternoon of Tuesday 16 March 2010 that he had quit his radio presenter job to become an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate for the
Luton South Luton South and South Bedfordshire is a constituency in Bedfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Rachel Hopkins, a member of the Labour Party. Prior to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constit ...
parliamentary constituency in the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
, following the expenses controversies of the constituency's former MP
Margaret Moran Margaret Mary Moran (born 24 April 1955) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Moran was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South from the 1997 general election to 2010. In November 2012, jurors at Southwark Crown ...
. He received 463 votes, 1.1% of those cast.


References


External links


Three Counties Radio profile

Family Fortunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Stephen 2017 deaths British radio DJs British radio personalities Irish male voice actors Irish radio presenters Broadcasters from County Dublin People from Bedfordshire 1951 births Irish electronic dance music DJs Deaths from motor neuron disease in England Date of birth missing Place of death missing Independent British political candidates